10 August 2011

Knowing that five minutes of your time is more valuable than five days of mine, I'll be brief and to the point.

First, thank you. Thank you for being a model of doctrinal, pastoral, and personal integrity. It means a great deal to me that I can know for certain that if you are given any opportunity anywhere, you will always and only use it as an opening to speak the Word and Gospel of the Lord. That is huge, and I applaud you for that, without reservation.

You have set an example of emphatically Biblical preaching and writing to an entire generation. In that vein, you have just concluded preaching through the entire New Testament. God be praised, and thank you.

Plus, you have blessed me by showing me great personal kindness by (A) even looking at, much less (B) endorsing my literary firstborn. I shall never forget that kindness, as long as I can rub two neurons together and raise a spark.

Now that you have preached through the NT, your church (and we onlookers) are eager to learn where you'll launch next. Would you consider a suggestion from a face in the crowd?

Preach Proverbs. All of it.

I see you as a man of Caleb's spirit, though not yet of his years. (You already know where I'm going with this.) When in his mid-eighties, Caleb did not seek a retirement villa. He wanted to take the hill country. I am certain that you are of the same mind: you will aim for the hill country.

Well, sir, that's Proverbs. I don't know offhand of anyone who has preached through the book in its entirety. I think you could serve the church well by taking your literal, Christ-centered hermeneutic, and showing how the rubber meets the road in preaching Proverbs. It's ripe, it's unplowed field, and it's waiting for someone of your caliber. Lady Wisdom still cries in the streets for hearers and for an effective spokesman (Prov. 1:20-33). Might that person be you?

Sure, there are a hundred other profitable lines for you to take, and you know infinitely better than I which would be best for you and your church. I don't presume to judge or prescribe. But it seems to me that you could serve God and the church, and take a bracing challenge, by picking that course.

Whatever you do, I join thousands in praying for God's hand on your thinking, and look forward to the results.

What a pastor John has been. One of my first our Savior had me listening to. Until they kicked him off of WRBS 95.1 for some stupid reason. We have such a shallow and politically correct Christian radio station here in Balto.

Nice leter to read. Very uplifting. And I too would love to listen to Pastor John teach through Proverbs.

I understand he plans, at least for awhile after he gets back from a bit of R&R, to preach a series on how the OT points to Christ. He is taking the theme from Luke 24. But, he has Sunday night, too. Proverbs would be an excellent choice for a study.

John MacArthur definitely tilted my world with his expository preaching, and I agree that Proverbs would be a great choice. I'm so thankful that God made him a pastor instead of a restless & reformed life coach.

By the way, I read Frank Turk. Frank Turk is in my news reader. And, Dan, you are no Frank Turk. Frank is an exception to the rule that brevity is the soul of wit. He could have made this a three week series. Next time you stand in for him, please try to be a little more wordy. :-)

"The conspectus of patristic exposition that :book name here: offers has been badly needed for several centuries. The whole of Christendom should take notice and unite to thank Dan Phillips for undertaking to fill the gap. For the ongoing ecumenical conversation, and the accurate application of early Christian thought, and the current hermeneutical debate as well, the :textual summary here: will prove itself to be a really indispensable resource."

It'd be wonderful to hear Macarthur preach through Proverbs and work in Ecclesiastes right behind it (or maybe in his Sunday night series). I'm very grateful to God for working through the ministry of John MacArthur to bring me to a better understanding of Scripture.

A most excellent letter to a most deserving man of God. I'm currently reading Ian Murray's bio on JM (an excellent work, btw), and each suceeding fact about this humble servant's life is just more mind-blowing than the one before it--just such a stark contrast to the staus-quo among evangelicals, so-called, today. So much of it is also sad to read, frankly, as it just makes it so clear that we have in JM a man who is on the short list of rare men throughout the history of the church who stand out as bright pillars in the darkness.

There is hardly such a great oak left in the forest, and it would be one thing if so many others from JM's generation were merely called home and he was left, but its quite another to think of how many of those men who once stood with him for the truth have since abandoned truth for heresy and/or apostasy.

Well, thanks again for expressing so succinctly what is certainly on the minds of thousands (c:

I am so grateful to God that He led my family and me to GCC just over four years ago, which is an hour away from our home, after first allowing us to sit in the mire of 3 horrible, downgrade, postmodern local churches for 4 years prior to our move. However, I sometimes catch myself feeling envious of my brothers and sisters at GCC who have been there with pastor John through the decades and wish I had not had to waste so many years under weak, or downright false, teachers.

1. Yes, a lot of ministers pick and choose parts of Proverbs to preach from. I could be mistaken, but I believe Rev. Adam Kaloostian (United Reformed Church in Ontario, CA) preached through the book in it's entirety.

2. Could you send some of your wife's Peanut Brittle my way? Does she also do Cashew brittle or Almond & Pecan Brittle?Just asking.

I have been reading a chapter in Proverbs a day to my kids for probably close to 6 years now. We have almost finished memorizing Chapter 3 together. I have also benefited greatly from Dr. Macarthur's preaching. He definitely quotes and refers to Proverbs a good deal, and it certainly is no light-weight book. I think his verse-by-verse method would be an excellent start to his Old Testament preaching. But that does require him to dust off his Hebrew, doesn't it? He gets my vote of confidence!

Ahem. Yes. Of course. While he is a hero of mine, I have it on good authority that he is also human. And, um, mature in years. But I certainly hope he is up to the challenge, and I trust his ability to accurately handle the word! (And I'll try to keep my foot out of my mouth now.)

I recently realized that I have had the blessed privilege of sitting under Pastor John's teaching at GCC for 40 years now. And Proverbs being one of my favorite OT books (1 chapter for each day of the month!) I would love to hear John exposit that book. May God grant him the "wisdom" to choose his next biblical passage from which to teach us!

By the way, you said you couldn't recall anyone that preached through the whole book of Proverbs? I think John Gill did preach through Proverbs, right Dan? He preached through the whole Bible didn't he?

Great post. John Macarthurs sermons and published works have been a tremendous encouragement to me and my family over the years, in-fact his one book on charismatic practice was very helpful when I left the prosperity church I was involved in. Sorry I know that last bits off topic?.

I would have to say that Proverbs would be far-reaching in the life of the church, both GCC and others. I believe the Wisdom Literature of the OT is what Paul referred to in 2 Timothy 3:15 that gives wisdom that leads one to faith in Christ, since the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and the beginnig of the gospel. The foundation of the Law would have to be laid first, but what a deposit to the modern, "we don't need the OT", church. To handle Proverbs in the depth and seriousness is demands would be appropriate and few would be able to do that better than Pastor John. Hopefully, this will be considered.

Sounds like a done deal from this. How can he NOT preach Proverbs after you put him on the spot like this.My mom used to say, "Don't ask me to go do something with a friend while your friend is standing there."

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